Sentri Reviews: Hyrule Historia

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Konnichi wa everyone! Sentri here! About a month and a half ago I received my copy of the Zelda Bible, also known as "Hyrule Historia". Considering how I have not seen a review of it on the forum, I figured why not give a review of one of the key collections of Zelda Fandom. Enjoy!

Overview

In short, this is a must have for any Zelda fan, whether you have played from the original or started playing at Twilight Princess. If you have all enjoyed the Zelda franchise, and would like to learn more about the series, by all means pick this up.

The book begins with a letter from the creator himself Shigeru (Shiggy) Miyamoto, expressing his joy for the franchise for the past 25 years. After the letter, the first third of the book enters into the concept art gallery of Skyward Sword, the game that has been known as the start of the timeline (Which I will get onto later). Through the pages, you see the concept designs of all the main characters, the locations, some minor characters, enemies, and content that was not implemented in the final version of the game along with descriptions from the artists as to why they chose the designs. If anything, it is always fun to see and discover the multitudes of what could have been put into the game and how the characters looked before they were finally drafted.

At the beginning of the second third, you are greeted with the "History of Hyrule: A Chronology". After a brief introduction, the final timeline so eagerly anticipated by fans is presented, beginning with Creation to the ends of the split timeline. The rest of the second third of the book is filled with the storyline and history of the games in the lore, starting with creation and Skyloft, making its way to Ocarina of Time, where the split timeline starts. (*sidenote of the split timeline: The split timeline of the Zelda series is that After the Ocarina of Time, their were 3 possible outcomes. 1) that Link lost the war against Ganon and Hyrule fell, 2) that after Link was victorious against Ganon that he a) went back as a child and continued his life as a Child and b)Continues his life as an adult and Ganondorf is sealed away. Sorry for the vagueness of this, but it is tough to explain). Through the timeline you learn about the characters and symbols used in each game and they interact with the past and future games, as well as handy lexicons on the Hylian, Gerudo, Twilight, and Ancient Hylian Alphabets. At the end of the timeline is a list of Special Edition Zelda Collectibles given out on the 25th anniversary of Zelda.

The final third of the book is focused on the games prior to Skyward Sword...which is all the games. Much like the Skyward sword portion, this section is focused on the art work and creative concepts used by the artists at Nintendo. Again, you see all the unique intricacies used in the game development processes, as well as what was left out of the final designs. After the artwork, you see how the designs of the 3 main characters, Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf, changed through out the years as well as a game catalog of not only the games that we know well of but also games not released stateside. This is all concluded by a letter from Producer Eiji Aonuma and a 32 page manga of the History of the Loftwings and the Ancient Hero.

Final Review

As stated before this is a must have for any Zelda fan or collector. The content in this book is always interesting to look at and ponder and the chronology is always something to read when you want to learn more about the Zelda Universe. In all, I say buy if the Zelda games have ever been a major part of your life. Or, if you are just starting your adventure, feel free to borrow it from a friend and read it. This may be one of the deciding factors that sucks you into the fandom. It is dangerous to go alone, so make sure you take this book.

The book is available at Amazon for 34.99$ with the reduced price of 20.99$ at the time of writing (sorry for no EU conversion).